A day to remember • November 1, 2006 | 6:23 p.m.

This is it — almost anyway! I can’t believe it, 16 weeks later, it’s time to get the job done. What I’ve learned this time around? Well, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy juggling a full schedule with lots of travel and being a mom and a wife. The hardest part, as I've said before, is not the 26.2 miles; it’s the several hundred miles in training that is the challenge. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it will all be well worth it. Nothing is more rewarding than really working hard for a goal and finally being able to complete it successfully. (I hope, so cross your fingers.)

I have also learned a lot about the strength of the human spirit.  Please don’t take that as me just being corny. To me, seeing Karen Gorrell, who beat advanced breast cancer just last year, getting ready to run her first marathon is the most incredible testament to a person’s will to survive. She’s not letting an illness get the best of her. I have run four marathons and each time I’m blown away by how many survivors, like Karen, are out there. I applaud her for her courage to run a marathon and to share her story and her time with all of you, our viewers.  I hope she has opened your mind to the possibility of reaching for a goal that may seem a mile high … or in this case, 26.2 miles away. Go Karen! And all 36,999 other runners Marathon Day, all of whom have a story about why they are running this race. 

I am most excited to see the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (often called the longest latrine on Marathon Day), because it is the start, and not the finish. I know it sounds weird, but if you could bottle all that energy and excitement on that bridge, it would be truly awesome.  And it will remind me that I will never want to forget that day. As with Christmas, to me, the most fun is always the anticipation.

MORE FROM TODAY RUNS A MARATHON

Today Runs a Marathon Section Front

Runner’s diet: food as fuel Natalie’s journal: Just behind Lance Armstrong Karen’s journal: Great day in my life Foods to avoid when you’re running Runners’ best grocery list of all time Hit the road in style with high-tech gear How busy parents can find time for exercising Never run before? Here’s how to get started Quiz: Best snacks? Good Housekeeping: Walk not run Today Runs a Marathon Section Front   Add Today Runs a Marathon headlines to your news reader: